Social Justice and Diversity

Two of the pillars that Brandeis was founded upon are a commitment to social justice and diversity. These are critical issues for the current Brandeis community and need to be addressed.

Social Justice

As we move into the implementation of the Justice Brandeis Semester, we need to keep our core values in mind. Even though budgets are being cut, we as a campus can still improve student life. In my experience, every student has a slightly different view of social justice. To me, being a champion of social justice means getting involved in the community to help create a more sustainable and service-based society. This is the reason that I have dedicated myself to social justice events like the Combating Hate fundraising dinner. In this dinner, we raised money to help rebuild a predominately black church that was burned down in hate and racism after election night. It is the reason that I am currently helping to plan another fundraising dinner to help women in Rwanda who were raped by soldiers in the Rwandan genocide. I know that there are many differing definitions of social justice on this campus and I want every student to find their own and embody it.

Next year, I will encourage the Social Justice committee to hold more events based on social justice identity. The Student Union should be a venue to help students find their definition of social justice. By holding these events, we can get students involved in thinking about what social justice means to them.

Diversity

This campus is filled with students, each with a different background and story. I believe that the Student Union's role concerning diversity is to foster discussion. As President, I will encourage the Diversity committee to plan events where students can tell their stories and explore what diversity means to them. Combining this idea of diversity with my commitment to club collaboration, I envision some amazing events addressing the diversity of cultures and ideas on this campus.